Basic chicken stock

Ingredients:

3 chicken thighs (with bone and skin on)

2 sticks of celery

1 carrot

1/2 onion

6 peppercorns

2 bay leaves

750ml water

Preparation:

1. Wash the carrot and sticks of celery and chop into pieces

2. Peel the onion and cut into quarters. Add this and all the other ingredients to a saucepan. Add 750ml of water.

Cook:

3. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer gently for up to 1 hour.

Refrigerate once cooled.

Serving suggestions:

Remove the chicken from the bone and slice up into small pieces and serve as a soup (adding freshly cooked pasta or rice to the soup). Add sweet potato and sweetcorn to the chicken stock for a deliciously sweet and wholesome soup. You can also add the stock to sauces, to rice and lentil dishes.

For babies from 6 months old, you can just add baby rice for a very nutritious meal. They will also start to get used to different flavours. At first it is better not to add the peppercorns until they are a little older or used to the taste.